100 replies to this topic

[Lunarea]

Ah, summer! The beach, the water, the heat that demands icy cold treats ... It is a time of fun and a time of celebration. So, let us give our own homage to this oh-so-lovely time of year by pitting lowly mortals- I mean by encouraging our fabulous community members to take part in a contest.

~Deadline~
Sunday, July 29th at 11:59PM EST (GMT -4).

~Prizes~
First place: Any one item from our official store.
That's right, folks! This is your chance to get your hands on a copy of VXAce, or perhaps that shiny new resource pack you've been eying.
Second place: Any one item from our official store except VXAce.
Third place: Any resource pack from our official store.

All participants will also receive a nifty little badge that you can proudly display in your signature.

~Rules~
1) Your entry must be a mini-game that's thematically related to summer.
Not sure what to do? Well, there's beach volleyball, ice-cream dash, sandcastle building, crab mini-maze or crazy surfing bonanza.
2) Your entry must be made in a legal RPG Maker engine or IGM.
3) You must provide credits for any non-RPG Maker material. No rips are allowed! Please make sure you have permission to use any external resources in your projects.
4) Your entry should be posted here.
5) Judges must have an unencrypted version of your entry. If you don't want your unencrypted entry to be made public, please pm it to me (Lunarea) before Sunday, July 29th at midnight EST (GMT -4).
5) You may create an entry thread at any point and update it accordingly. The project version that's in your thread at the deadline will be counted as the final entry.

~Judging~
The entries will be judged by the following criteria:
Fun factor - /40
Originality - /20
Playability - /20
Adherence to theme - /10
Effort - /10

~Judges~
Touchfuzzy, Frieza and Lunarea.

~FAQ~
1) Are teams allowed?
- Small teams (up to 3 people) are allowed. However, you will still only receive one prize (for example, you will receive only one activation code for Ace and you will choose to which of your team members it goes).
2) Can I do more than one mini-game?
- You can enter as many minigames as you want, but they need to be in a single project file. Just remember that a single polished entry will do better than 10 mini-games that don't quite work. Aim for quality rather than quantity!

Let the summer fun begin~!

[SolarGale]

Omg Lunarea, this sounds awesome, might actually give this a go

[Psyker]

I'm down for this. I have an idea already! Let's make it happen!

Edit: BTW, there is an error when going to the link where entries should be posted. Thought I would let you know. It says don't have permission to view forum.

Edited by Psyker, 08 July 2012 - 02:46 PM.

[Lunarea]

Added a small FAQ section for you guys. Small teams are allowed, but there's still only one prize. And you can enter more than one minigame, but it needs to be in a single project file.

Edit: And the link to the submission forum will be up shortly. We're just moving a couple things around.

[Touchfuzzy]

Sorry there was a weird bug and I had to remake our Events category because it wouldn't save changed permissions. I'm getting it all fixed now.

[Todd]

If you win a resource pack, are you aloud to wait for a new one to come out?

[Touchfuzzy]

If you win a resource pack, are you aloud to wait for a new one to come out?

Yes.

(Also, the category forum is visible now, sorry for the trouble.)

[Evan G.]

So, would a short dating sim count as a mini-game? The idea I'm getting is that it has to be something active, but I'm not sure.

[RyanA]

Contests!!! :3 Sounds fun guys! :3

[Jeneeus Guruman]

Second place:Any one item from our official store except VXAce.

Does this mean VX, XP, and IG Maker are included in the list?

[Lunarea]

Yes.

[Racheal]

I am pumped for this! I love an excuse for something short and different.

Rough planning is complete, so now it is just a matter of finalizing, creating assets, and coding.

Edited by Racheal, 08 July 2012 - 07:21 PM.

[hkoz]

Might try my luck on this one too.

[Probotector 200X]

Hmmm, I like those prizes, but...I'd personally rather make a normal RPG in this theme than a mini-game, because, hey, why not? Like, fighting battles at the beach, and saving the place from an evil water elemental creating a tsunami or something, I dunno. But...eh, I know, not the place for that.

I'm not good at mini-games, not sure if I'll give it a go. But I'll think about it.

[Jeneeus Guruman]

What's the format of the post? Is there any format? My mini-game is ready to go.

EDIT: Is it allowed to create a complete game that contains ONLY a certain mini-game?

EDIT 2: Can I still modify my mini-game after the announcement of winners?

Edited by Jeneeus Guruman, 09 July 2012 - 06:57 AM.

[Lunarea]

@Probotector 200X:
A part of the fun of a contest is to go out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. I'm sure there are lots of possibilities for full-fledged games with a summer theme, but not everyone has time to jump into another full game contest. A mini-game is not only easier to create, but it also forces you to think about and develop clever game mechanics. You're welcome to to make a summer-themed game outside the contest, though! I'm sure the audience would love to play something like that.

@ Jeneeus Guruman:
No, there's no specific format, as long as there's a brief description and a visible download link.

This is just my advice, but take a step back and take your time with your mini-game entry. This is just the first day, and the winner won't be whoever finished first. You've still got 3 weeks to really polish your entry. Make sure there are no bugs and that your mini-game is fun to play. You can do it!

[Acezon]

Contest! I will definitely join this one. I'm tired of using my cousin's RMVXA engine and I want one myself (yes, I'm poor).

[Jeneeus Guruman]

@ Jeneeus Guruman:
No, there's no specific format, as long as there's a brief description and a visible download link.

This is just my advice, but take a step back and take your time with your mini-game entry. This is just the first day, and the winner won't be whoever finished first. You've still got 3 weeks to really polish your entry. Make sure there are no bugs and that your mini-game is fun to play. You can do it!

I got it.

This advice you gave me will be a very useful. A very big thanks.

I'm just in a hurry making a mini-game in case of having similar to the other contestants.

[Acetonide]

Well, I suppose if I enter this contest at least I'll have more than 5 days to make 3 mini-games.. xD
I have a few questions.

First off, just to be certain.. No story of any kind or the like will be required, correct? It would be fine if it was nothing but a mini-game?

Next I have a few questions about how the judging will be exactly..
First off who are the judges? I know you said the unencrypted copy should be sent to you, and I assume if there are other judges you can just send it out, but I'm wondering how many people would see it unencrypted.

Also..

Fun factor
I guess this is pretty straight forward, no questions here.

Originality
Which counts towards originality? The mini-game only? Or will any scripts, resources, writing, eventing, etc count also? How will this be decided exactly?

Playability
I guess this is also pretty straight forward.

Adherence to theme
Does this mean we should aim for things that are stereotypically summer, because different people have different experiences, and I personally know of a family who spends a month every summer vacationing in the mountains skiing. So instead things like beach, sand, ice cream, etc?

Effort
How will this be judged? I can't give any examples because I'm not sure how one can judge effort without being there and knowing the person. Perhaps scripting may come easy to others, whereas someone else may just be learning Ruby and how to use it with RGSS3 and would be struggling with it. Or perhaps events may be extremely long and complicated and be very creative, but the person made it earlier for something else and is just reusing it. So how can effort be judged accurately? (Sorry if I seem condescending or offensive, I honestly don't mean to be. I just get a little, er.... "passionate" about certain ideas and judging someone's effort is once of them. Bad experiences in school and what not. Again, I apologize in advance to anyone who may of been offended.)


You made no mention of this as far as I can tell, but what are the rules for using someone else's scripts or resources (tiles, sprites, etc)? Obviously you have to credit them, but is it allowed if you get permission and do you need to provide the permission (email contact or their license or what they say in their post along with the script)?

Lastly, are you (that is the participant) allowed to use material they created previously, or will it all have to be made after the contest was announced? I assume older material is fine since it'd be hard to tell who was being honest with this, but I just want to be certain.

I think that covers all of my question... Hopefully. It is a wall of text, although smaller than my usual walls. >.<;

[Lunarea]

No story of any kind or the like will be required, correct? It would be fine if it was nothing but a mini-game?

That's correct. No story will be required. Although this is not a requirement, you're encouraged to include a brief tutorial explaining the mini-game mechanics (things like "press A to splash the turtle").

First off who are the judges?

There will likely be 3-4 judges, most of which will be our awesome staff members. I'm waiting to hear about everyone's schedule before confirming, but I will let you know who the final judges are.

Which counts towards originality? The mini-game only? Or will any scripts, resources, writing, eventing, etc count also? How will this be decided exactly?

This is mainly based on the concept and its execution. If the mini-game is clever and has the judge going "hey, this is neat! I never thought of doing this", it'll be rated higher. Things like scripts, writing, etc can help sell the idea, so they're a part of the process too.

Does this mean we should aim for things that are stereotypically summer, because different people have different experiences, and I personally know of a family who spends a month every summer vacationing in the mountains skiing. So instead things like beach, sand, ice cream, etc?

Eeh, the skiing example wouldn't really be adhering to the theme. I'm not saying that it has to be 100% traditional, but it should be putting the player in the "summer" mindset. Summer is not the first thing most people think about when they see skiing and snow.

How will this be judged?

It will be based on quality of the entry. Did this person take the time to make a good map for their mini-game? Did they go beyond the minimum requirements? Did they choose the appropriate music/graphics/sounds? Or did they just make their mini-game in the last 10 minutes before the deadline? Effort is all about detail and attention to detail. You'll note that it doesn't count for too much, but it's there to acknowledge the hard work. I imagine most entries will score high on effort - as they should.

As for resources and previous material ... Having permission to use the resources means they're either something we can find in Resource showcase or there's a note on the resource website that material can be used in RPG Maker you're using. Credits are necessary, yes. I would prefer that the entry be made specifically for this contest, but as there's no way to check, I will rely on people's honesty.